Most ordinary answering machines are limited in function. They record a message and play it back at a later date. The advent of more sophisticated telephone network services in buildings and in the general population, as well as more sophisticated cable and telephone systems, allows greater potential for recording information, telephone messages and prompts transmitted into a recording unit from a communication channel operatively connected to a telephone network or cable system.
The increase in computerized telephone equipment has led to an increase in sophisticated services offerings such as caller identification, video data, billing and credit information, interactive multimedia and networking among computers and other networks. This has increased the time demands on many individuals. These users typically require or desire instant access to telephone information such as caller identification, the time of the call and other pertinent details in a quick, readable format and an easily accessible location. For example, a busy business traveler may desire instant access to this information as he enters his home or office. By enabling him to obtain the most pertinent information, the busy traveler can then quickly know what important emergency calls have to be made without having to go through a complicated or time intensive use of an answering machine or premises recording unit.
It would be desirable if the sophisticated information now available such as caller identification, time of call, video data, billing and credit information, interactive multimedia and other data could be recorded from a telephone network onto a premises recording unit, while also allowing easy access to the more pertinent of this information at a remote location such as an office or residence entrance. This pertinent information could include the identification of the caller, the time of the call, what messages were left, and other information such as whether a fax was sent. This display of pertinent information at a remote location such as an office entrance is advantageous especially if the business traveler were gone for an extended period of time, and a half hour to an hour of messages were stored on a central premises recording unit. Thus, the business traveler could bypass the use of the central premises recording unit until he had finished the more pressing matters that were noted on a display at a remote location, such as the doorway entrance to the office.
It would also be advantageous if information from the premises itself, such as temperature, could be transmitted to a display at a remote location, such as an entrance door. Such system could bypass use of a premises recording unit. Also, it would be advantageous if caller ID information could be displayed at a remote premises location, such as the entrance door, without use of a premises recording unit.